1970 Plymouth GTX 440 - The Long And Winding Road

The road to restoration is often long and winding, fraught with unexpected obstacles, wrong turns, and the occasional dead end. Back in early 1990, Dave Duell bought this '70 GTX with the plan of restoring the car. He started down that familiar road by disassembling the car, but then took an unexpected detour. Fortunately for Chris Flake, Duell soon became more interested in nostalgia drag racing and decided it was time to sell the GTX. The restoration had hit a dead end.

In October of 1992, Chris caught wind that this Six Pack car was going to be sold, and he took his wife to have a look. The 56,000-mile car appeared to be all there and original, right down to the 22 years of grime, oil, and dust. As a bonus, Dave still had all of the paper work for the car dating back to its original sale. One of the first things Chris noticed about the car was a Clorox bleach bottle wired to the front where the grill belonged. Dave explained that it was the car's gas tank-the original tank had been removed, and in order to start the engine, the bottle was necessary. It looked funny, but it got the job done.

With the exception of the dash and headliner, the interior was gutted. One bright spot, however, was that the original AM/8 Track player was still mounted in the Rallye dash. The trunk floor had been replaced, but the quarters and rest of the body panels were pretty straight. The small portion of the car that wasn't in primer still carried the original color, though extremely faded. The car was equipped with a 727 automatic transmission, Dana 60 A26 Super Performance Axle Package, 26-inch radiator, power front discs, and best of all it was a "V" code GTX. Even with the car in pieces, air shocks on the back, and Mickey Thompson's mounted to the original Magnum wheels, it looked great.

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But Chris and his wife left without the car that day. A couple of days later Dave called and asked if Chris was still interested; If not, he knew a couple of other people that were, and he wanted to move the car. Chris decided he wasn't going to let this one go, having lost a similar car a few years earlier because he dragged his feet. He called a friend who owned a trailer and went to pick up the car. When Chris's buddy looked at the car, all he could say was, "How much did you pay for that?" They loaded the car, brought it home, and the restoration was officially started.

Chris's dream was to make the car a nice driver, but after a little research, he learned that only 684 '70 GTXs were equipped with 440 Six Packs, and only 328 were automatics. The dream changed, and a full restoration was the only way to go.

Initially, Chris estimated the restoration would take about two and a half years and somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve thousand dollars to complete. His only comment after completing the project is "Ha! Before I knew it, I was in deep!" Two years into the project he got lucky and won a Harley Davidson motorcycle, but after spending a summer riding the Harley (time, he says, would have been better spent restoring the GTX), he sold the motorcycle and put the money towards the car. "While the GTX was at the paint shop, I should have been painting hardware and polishing trim. Instead, I was out on the Harley," Chris says. He thought selling the motorcycle would not only free up his time to get the car done, but that the money would be enough to finish the project. Much to Chris's dismay, "The GTX swallowed the Harley without even a belch!" The restoration ended up taking Chris five and a half years to complete.

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During that time, the engine was sent to Automotive Machine & Performance of Owensboro, Kentucky, for all of the machining, and then went to Danny Nantz of Henderson, Kentucky, to be put back together. The plan was to retain as many original components on the car as possible, replacing only what was necessary. As a result, the car still carries many of its original peices, including the original power steering belt. The transmission received a complete rebuild, adding a mild shift kit to get the power to the back wheels a little quicker.

Under the car, the stock suspension was completely removed for rebuilding. The control arms and sway bars were bead-blasted and powder-coated, while the rest of the more perishable items such as ball joints, tie rod ends, and bushings were replaced. At the back of the car, the rearend needed only new seals, gaskets, and a fresh coat of paint to bring it back to factory condition.

The seat received new black and silver vinyl covers and new black carpet, while the dash bezel and gauges were rebuilt and rechromed.

Chris took most of the exterior trim pieces and both bumpers to Custom Chrome in Grafton, Ohio, for replating. What wasn't dropped off at the plater's was either missing or past the point of restoring, and was replaced with new pieces. A little work near the back window and trunk area, plus the procurement of a new decklid, were all Chris had to do before taking the car to Bud's Body Shop in Chandler, Indiana, who aligned and finished all the body panels in preparation for the PPG basecoat/clearcoat FY1 Lemon Twist Yellow.

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The car was brought back to Chris's house, where he reinstalled all the remaining parts and finished the project, though not before more unexpected obstacles. "When the day came to finally fire it up, it was almost just that!" Chris says. In an all-too-familiar scenario with fresh carb rebuilds, a leaking bowl on the primary carb covered the engine with gasoline. "Soon after the motor started, someone started yelling 'Shut it off! Shut it off!'" Fortunately, the exhaust manifolds hadn't gotten hot enough to ignite the fuel, and the car wasn't harmed. But that was almost the straw that broke the camel's back. "I was fed up with it," Chris tells us. "All the stories about burn-out and threats to unload the project were starting to make sense. Even before this, I had gotten to a point where I just wanted the project behind me."

Fortunately, he stuck with it. "I borrowed what I needed to finish the car, got some help from some friends, family, and kept my little brother from a few hot dinners at home."

Finally, the end arrived. "We finished the car at 11 p.m. the night before leaving for the '98 Mopar Nationals, where it took Second Place in the original class. I thought I was finished until reviewing the score sheet from the judges. I went back to work and fixed everything they deemed incorrect," Chris says. The following year he was rewarded for his efforts with a First Place.

Of his experience, Chris says, "I'm glad I stuck with it now, but I couldn't have done it without the help of some special friends and family. Would I do it again? No way! The next one will be a turn-key purchase!" So what does the future hold for this special GTX? No one can say for sure. To date, Chris has only added about 40 miles to the odometer, but its future with the Flake clan seems fairly secure. "I've had offers on the car, even before it was complete. I wouldn't be against selling it, but my daughters, now 14 and 17, have taken to the car, and going to the shows are as enjoyable for them as they are for me. I've only put about 40 miles on the car, but it runs and drives wonderfully. My 17-year-old would like to drive it to school 'for just one day, Dad.'" That's understandable-how many of us would have loved to drive a Lemon Twist Six Pack GTX to high school?

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Chris hasn't given in yet, but says if he could watch the car the entire time she had it, he might just let her take it.

Yeah, right.

Journey of a GTX10-1-69: Myron Srickland of Elberfeld, Indiana, orders this Lemon Twist, Six Pack GTX from Weiss Motors in Haubstadt, Indiana. His father has to co-sign for him, so his name is on the original order sheet.

1971: Myron trades the car in for a '71 Sport Satellite because he likes the new body style. (Myron currently lives only a few miles from the GTX.)

10-4-71: School teacher Wilma Miley, from Oak City, Indian, buys the car for her son, who trades it in on a Volkswagen in 1973.

6-22-73: Charles Hudson of Evansville, Indiana, purchases the car. Charles and his brothers are known locally on the street and at the strip for their Mopars. He leaves the car pretty much unchanged. After driving through the early '80s, he parks it for several years before selling in early 1990. (He and a brother currently drag race a '69 Road Runner, and another brother races a '71 Challenger.)

Early 1990: Dave Duel of Evansville, Indiana, purchases the car to restore, but loses interest and sells it.